Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Didn't hear back from Home Depot today (after my calls on Friday), so at around 3:00 I called the counter company to find out something. They still hadn't heard from the kitchen expediter at Home Depot about the "verification," the "final P.O." I immediately called the Home Depot lady in Atlanta and explained the situation. (I'd already explained most of it in two messages I left her last Friday--today she acknowledged receiving them but said she'd been out of the office and apologized.)

She said she'd call the kitchen expediter herself. (She had somehow been under the impression that there was an installation scheduling problem, and I told her that it appeared to be a fabrication problem.) Sure enough, the counters have not even been fabricated yet.

Not long after I talked to the lady in Atlanta, the counter people called back, asking me the name of the color of the counters I'd ordered (way back when) (I'd actually forgotten the name of it and, at the time the measurements were taken for the counters, asked them to call Home Depot, apparently to no avail). (But I since ascertained the name of the color and told them today.)

Anyway, apparently Home Depot called the counter company back this afternoon, after my call to Atlanta. The counter person (same person I talked with on Friday) was obviously very concerned about getting the order in right away to the fabricators. Now it will take 10 to 14 days for the counters to be fabricated. So the kitchen expediter at my local Home Depot has set this project back another week at least, due to her failure to respond to the counter company. (I'm glad I sicced the lady in Atlanta on her and mentioned her by name--again.) Such glaring incompetence.

Then the counters will have to be installed, along with the sink, faucet and new disposer, and the water line to the refrigerator reconnected; then the drywall people have to come in and repair the drywall; then the electrical work has to be reinspected and then finished (including installing the outlet for the stove, etc. and installing the ceiling fan), at which point I can use this kitchen. Also, I'm still waiting on the overlay for the spice rack cabinet. I've put off the cabinet inspection until this has been installed.

After all that, I'll put up on some cool tile the backsplashes. And the kitchen will be done. A friend of mine said it would be done by Thanksgiving. I think that sounds a little ambitious at this point.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

On Friday, I called up the counter people to see how hunky-dory everything was with my counters. The lady I spoke with said she's still waiting on a fax from Home Depot--Home Depot's "verification" and "final P.O." for this project--and that it had been a week already since the lady first requested this from Home Depot. She said she would call Home Depot after we got off the phone (it was a little past 4:00). I told her to call the District Services Manager and gave her his phone number.

I immediately called up the Home Depot lady in Atlanta and left her a message about this.

I then called the counter people back (to get the name of the person I spoke with before). I was connected to the same person (got her name). She said she had called Home Depot and left a message (with the kitchen expediter, who appears to be my nemesis), and said she would call the District Services Manager if she didn't hear back from the kitchen expediter within 10 minutes.

I then called the lady in Atlanta back and relayed this information (again, by voice message). I never heard anything back from anybody that day. We'll see what unfolds tomorrow.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

This morning I called the Home Depot lady in Atlanta and explained the latest wrinkle. I was pretty distraught. She was very nice as always and said she'd look into the situation and get back with me.

A little after 3:00, I got a call from the contractor who will be doing the drywall. They wanted to come in next Tuesday. I told her I'd talked to the kitchen designer over the weekend about putting a strip of molding beneath the bar counter where it sits on the half wall. (The designer recommended it.) To back up a minute, two weeks ago when the drywall guy came here after the cabinets were installed, he asked whether I would need such a molding. I told him at the time that I didn't know. So the drywall guy does the moldings, too. Anyway, I told the contractor today that perhaps they should hold off doing the drywall and molding work until the counters are installed, since the bar counter will have to be in place before they can add the molding. She said she'd talk to the drywall person and call me back. Sure enough, they'll come in and do this work after the counters are installed. I'll let them know when that's done.

An hour or so later, the District Services Manager called about the counters. Notwithstanding what I'd heard yesterday from the counter people (and I mentioned I'd got "riled up" over it), he assured me that the counters are coming along fine. Maybe they're coming along fine as of today when someone took some action, but that's OK, too. Along as things are moving along, I'm fine.

P.S. At the beginning of the week, I primed and painted the wooden brackets that will support the bar counter top, so I'm all ready to go here. (Photo shows brackets sitting on the half wall, atop which an arc-shaped counter will be installed.)

More problems with Home Depot. The counter installation is now at a complete standstill. Apparently somebody at Home Depot dropped the ball again. The counters should have been in at the end of this week (like tomorrow) (or the very beginning of next, at the latest). I did my own follow-up with the counter company today, since I hadn't heard anything from Home Depot.

It turns out that the counters haven't even been fabricated yet. The counter people contacted Home Depot last week with questions on certain details of the project and haven't heard back from them (as of shortly past noon Wednesday). I told the woman I spoke with that I would call Home Depot myself; she said I shouldn't have to do that. She said she'd call them after lunch if she didn't hear anything from them by the time she returned from her lunch break.

I immediately called the District Services Manager at Home Depot and left a message, telling him what the counter company said. I didn't hear back from him (or from the counter company). Tomorrow, if I don't hear back from the District Services Manager by 2:00 p.m., I'll call the lady at Home Depot in Atlanta who's been handling my case.

I can't believe this. I haven't had a kitchen here since July 2. The cabinets are in now, but I still can't use the kitchen. There's no sink, no water, no usable stove or dishwasher, etc.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Today I was back at Home Depot to get the support brackets for the bar counter top--heavy-duty wooden ones. Tonight I primed them and will spray-paint them tomorrow. I'm not sure when the counters will be ready, but I want to make sure the brackets are ready before the counter installers come.

Last Sunday, in addition to buying the sink, I bought some plastic tubing for the water line that runs approx. 10 feet from the water supply beneath the sink to the refrigerator's ice maker/water dispenser. This will run beneath the counter along the tops of the cabinets, so the line has to be in place before the counters are installed. (I've been buying ice by the bag for months.) I also bought a new Insinkerator compact garbage disposer, stainless steel stopper, and power cord kit. I'm ready, folks!

My old garbage disposer was noisy and rattled everything near it when switched on. If there was any silverware or other utensils sitting in the sink, they would quickly start gravitating toward the open drain. (Fortunately, nothing ever fell in and got mangled.) I trust the new disposer will be less of a beast than the old one. (I'll let you know.) (Anything would be an improvement.)

Last Thursday, after the cabinets were installed, the drywall guy asked me whether I'd like some molding to go along the seam where the bar counter rests on the half wall. I told him I didn't know. (I didn't have molding before, since the seam wasn't visible unless you bent over and looked underneath the bar top.) Today I discussed this with the kitchen designer, and she suggested a small molding.

Tomorrow I'll call the District Services Manager and explain this. (I don't think I mentioned it before.) If the drywall guy is going to do this molding, then he has to come in and do his work after the counters are installed.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Lots of progress last Thursday (Oct. 2), exactly three months after the kitchen had been demolished. I took the day off from work. People were working here all day long. First the electrician came in to rewire the recessed lights. Next came the cabinet installers. It took the electrician over three hours to do what he had to do (apparently it wasn't easy). (That cost an extra $200.) The cabinet installers were here for around seven hours. Before they left, someone came in to assess the drywall repairs.

The cabinets look fantastic, and the installers did a great job. (As far as I know, so did the electrician.)

The spice rack cabinet was missing an overlay. That's been ordered and will be installed when it gets in.

The recessed lights will be reinstalled after the electrical inspector examines the new wiring. The inspector had said to leave the light fixtures hanging from the ceiling.

To the left of the fridge is the new pull-out pantry, which my new cat, Lucky (seen below), used to sleep on top of when it was standing in its box in the living room.

Early this morning someone came to measure for the quartz counter tops. They should be ready for installation in about two weeks. Yesterday I picked up the new sink at Home Depot (I'd paid for it already) which came with a template. The measuring guy took that with him to use in fabricating the counter tops. He said I'd need to buy two brackets to support the counter that will sit on the half wall. I have plenty of time to get those.

After the installation was done, I moved the card table back into the kitchen since I need some kind of surface there. (Won't it be great to have counters again.)

While I was at work today, the District Services Manager called to ask about the installation. I told him everything looks great and we discussed the next steps.

BEFORE

AFTER

The spice rack cabinet (last one at right) is getting an overlay.

The new cabinets had been sitting for over three months in front of this half wall, which will be topped with a new counter. I was so relieved to get my space back. Lucky was confused, however. He joined the household in mid-July and was accustomed to the cabinets sitting in the living room. He used to play (and sleep) on them. Now he's getting accustomed to the cabinets being in the kitchen. I'm sure he'll love the new counters to race around on.

Since the recessed lights aren't functional now, I rigged up something temporary (top left). I also used an old belt to tie two of the recessed lights together so that I could access the new pantry without damaging it (top right). Once the lights are reinstalled, I'll have full access to the upper cabinets. I'm slowly restocking the cabinets. I'll wait until the counters and sink are in before putting everything back. Meanwhile I can figure out where everything will go, since I have more space to fill than I had before.